Phoenix Suns 25-25 @ LA Clippers 28-21

[nevetsov]

Most nba coaches have strengths and weaknesses. Exceptions might be guys like Popovich but the reality is they are few and far between.

Gentry's strength is that he's the consummate player's coach - he's friendly, personable, doesn't burn out his vets in lengthy practices. The advantage of this is you rarely see players getting disgruntled and cancerous - even guys like Childress who could quite easily (and quite rightly) fuss about playing time. But the atmosphere in Phoenix is generally harmonious and it likely is because of Gentry's laid back style.

Gentry's weaknesses are the fallout from this - his casual attitude can be construed as him being blasé and unfirm when required. He will cater to his vets a little too much rather than having the balls to tighten the reins when necessary. His propensity to stick with his rotations for longer than he should is a product of his relationship with the veteran players, even though the over reliance often leads to changes coming far too late.

Gentry is a great coach for a veteran heavy team, but for a team looking for direction and leadership he might not be the best fit. It's only natural that Nash and Hill love him. But for the new guys coming in, that trust is something that you have to earn - just look at Gortat last year (came off the bench for ages even when Lopez blew) and him starting half-man-all-reputation until the death.

I still prefer to have him with this group than a guy like D'Antoni though. Can you imagine - he'd be playing Nash and Hill 42 mins a night and Morris wouldn't have stepped onto the court yet.

[Wannabe MEP]

Do you guys think Los Soles would make a better HC than Gentry?

Absolutely not. Gentry has to deal with a sh*tload of stuff that I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to handle.

But I honestly do believe that I have a crucial skill that he doesn't have. A head coach has a million pieces of info that he has to filter down for making any decision. Part of interpreting all that info is ignoring that which is less than absolutely critical. I believe that masters like Popovich, Thibodeau, Phil Jackson, John Wooden, Bill Self, etc have an elite analytical ability to filter that information. I believe it's an intrinsic skill; it's not something a guy like Gentry can pick up just from hangin' with Pop.

I believe I have that ability. Completely seriously: The Suns should hire me. But certainly not as a head coach. Yep, as this guy:



I believe most teams that are competitive have a guy with that analytical filter somewhere making decisions: HC, assistant, statistical analyst, GM, etc. Coaches like Pop or Thibodeau; GMs like Daryl Morey; and a bunch of teams have hired the advanced stats guys as analysts recently (Dallas, Memphis, Denver, OKC, Blazers, etc). It's not just having a "stats guy", though: there are plenty of guys who can crunch numbers but don't have that analytical filter. Those are separate skills.

If you've seen Moneyball, you know that it's not just about having that guy. He has to have influence. Billy Beane had to completely buy in to his program, but that didn't mean the scouts or manager were gonna listen. Beane had to strong-arm the scouts and force the manager's hand by trading players.

And that's baseball. In baseball, the deeper-level stats are pretty cut-and-dry. It may seem counter-intuitive, but A is more effective than B, and you can clearly see it in the stats, and it's absolute. Basketball is immensely more complicated, which means it's much more difficult to convince coaches and/or GMs to buy in to a counter-intuitive idea. Such as that we need Lou/Lou 2.0; that Hill shouldn't play with Nash near as much; that Frye is actually pretty effective, and more effective as the 5; etc.

Suppose the Suns hired me as an analyst. I would be working my tail off to acquire Lou 2.0 and to get Hill playing more of his minutes with the second unit, but I'm not convinced that either would happen. Blanks and Gentry would have to have enormous respect for me to make those kinds of radical shifts.